Whidbey Island Theaters
Whidbey Island Theaters is an independent American cinema chain founded in 1977 in Rapid City, Washington. The company was founded with the construction of the Freedom Theatre in downtown Rapid City and has since purchased other small theaters across Whidey Island. It has 5 locations across Whidbey Island with three of these in their headquarters of Rapid City. The company has expressed interest in purchasing the Blue Fox Drive-In in Oak Harbor as well as building a new theater in Coupeville. History Whidbey Island Theaters was founded by Rapid City Community College graduate Evans Peters in 1977 as Freedom Theatres, named for their four-screen Freedom Theatre which opened in downtown Rapid City on April 22, 1977. It was the second movie theater to open in the city, 24 years after the Main Street Cinema opened its doors. In 1985, the Peters family constructed a small two-screen theater in uptown Rapid City called the Freedom Theatre II and was often referred to informally as The Deuce. The theater did not last long and shut its doors in 1991. In 1998, the Peters family constructed a small three-screen theater in the Deception Pass neighborhood called Deception Pass Cinema. In coordination of the new theater's opening the company changed their name from Freedom Theatres to Whidbey Island Theaters. In 2005, Whidbey Island Theaters successfully purchased the Main Street Cinema which then underwent a minor renovation which replaced all the seating in the three auditoriums, replaced all carpeting and installed new signage outside. WIT had been trying to purchase the historic theater since 1989 although the original owners were wary of selling to a company rather than an individual. Upon their deaths in 2002 and 2003, their son put the theater up for sale and agreed to sell to WIT after refusing to finalize a sale to Regal Cinemas. In 2012, Whidbey Island Theaters purchased the single-screen Clyde Theatre in Langley from Blake Willeford. In 2016, Whidbey Island Theaters purchased the Main Street Laundry located at 4500 Main Street and remodeled it into a two-screen theater that is now operated as an extension of the Main Street Cinema. This made the historic theater the largest owned by WIT with five screens. In 2019, Whidbey Island Theaters purchased the three-screen Oak Harbor Cinemas in Oak Harbor and expressed interest in buying the Blue Fox Drive-In as well. By September they had announced tenative plans to construct two new theaters in south Whidbey Island which would be the first built by the company in over 20 years. The Coupeville Cinema in Coupeville would have two screens and is slated to open in summer 2020 while the Garry Oak Theatre in Oak Harbor would have five screens and be open by 2021. Locations *Freedom Theatre — Rapid City (4 screens; opened 1977) *Deception Pass Cinema — Rapid City (3 screens; opened 1998) *Main Street Cinema — Rapid City (5 screens; opened 1953; acquired in 2005) *The Clyde Theatre — Langley (1 screen; opened 1937; acquired in 2012) *Oak Harbor Cinema — Oak Harbor (3 screens; opened 1980; acquired in 2019) *''Coupeville Cinema — Coupeville (2 screens; proposed 2020)'' *''Garry Oak Theatre — Oak Harbor (5 screens; proposed 2021)'' Former locations *Freedom Theatre II — Rapid City (2 screens; opened 1985; closed 1991) Category:Companies based in Randall City